Wednesday, 13 April 2011

:: More than just Memories ::

I
don’t know one person that doesn’t have memories of deliciously warm hot cross
buns with a slathering of golden butter, melting on the top at Easter time.
They always had charred, crusty bits on the edges, adding to that extra depth
of flavour & this was what I loved when we attempted to grill them to
perfection. Simply biting through the crunch of the first layer to get to the
soft centre, ooh, heaven! They really
do take me back to my childhood, Easter Egg hunts with our extended family
members, the red leaves of the maples on our farm, the crisp morning air that
filled my lungs when playing outside. I ate them for breakfast AND lunch & you know what, sometimes
still do!

This original recipe was written out from a vintage gourmet traveller magazine years ago, however have adapted it with spices & peel to my liking to make it unique from Megann's Kitchen. These buns are not hard at all but are a little time consuming, so allow a good 3 hours for the rising of the dough. I hope you like them just as much as our family does.

Buns

4½ cups plain flour

1/3 cup of caster sugar

2 tsp dried yeast

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 ½ cups (225 grams) sultanas

100 grams of candied mixed peel, finely
chopped

1 orange rind, zested with a microplane

pinch of sea salt

1 ½ cups milk

¼ cup cream

90 grams unsalted butter, cubed

1 large egg

Paste

½ cup flour

2 TBS caster sugar

water- enough to form a thick, smooth paste

Glaze

¼ cup water

¼ cup caster sugar

½ tsp mixed spice or cinnamon (I do two shakes
of each)

:: Gently warm the milk, cream & butter over a low heat, stirring constantly until the butter is
melted. Turn off the heat & sit for 15-20 minutes. When ready to add the milk
mixture to the below flour mixture, whisk the egg.

-
Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add milk mixture. Stir then turn
out onto a well floured workbench & knead
for 10
minutesuntil smooth or

-
Use your KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer with the dough hook attachment: place all
the above flour mixture ingredients into the bowl & gradually add the milk
mixture. Mix for about 5 minutes & you will notice that as the gluten in
the dough activates, it will start to work its way up the dough hook. Finish
with a 3
minute knead on the workbench until smooth while adding more flour
if required.

:: Place the large ball
of dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling wrap & place in a warm
part of the house for at least an hour or
until it has almost doubled in size.

:: ‘Knock back’ the
dough & cut into 16 equal pieces (half/half/half/half). Knead each piece
into a ball, place in a lightly greased & lined 22cm square cake pan, cover with either a damp tea towel or cling
wrap, & again stand in a warm place until, once again, almost doubled in
size.

:: Preheat oven to 220°C. Combine flour,
caster sugar & water in a
small bowl to make a thick, smooth paste. Place into a piping & snip off
the corner. Pipe lines down the centre of each row of your prepared buns in
order to form a cross. Bake for 10 minutes then reduce the oven to 200°C & bake for another 10-15 minutes until a warm golden
colour. The trick here is they should sound hollow when tapped.

:: While your hot cross
buns are in the oven, prepare your glaze. Place water, sugar & spices
in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Bring to
the boil, reduce the heat & simmer for a further 3-4 minutes, then take off the heat. Brush glaze over the buns
freshly out of the oven, then cool on a wire rack.

:: the ingredients prepared & ready to bake ::

:: good dough rising ::

﻿

Toast & Serve: The best way to serve is to toast under the grill until a beautifully golden colour with a generous slathering of real, salted butter.

No comments:

Post a Comment

:: IN THE KITCHEN ::

:: MORE ABOUT THE BAKER & MAKER ::

"I believe food is about creating memories. There is not one dish that does not have a fond memory attached to it in one way or another, so please, enjoy my memories of cooking & creating in Megann's Kitchen..."